Special Features – Travel Trade Caribbeanhttps://www.traveltradecaribbean.com
Caribbean Travel Trade & Tourism News and InformationTue, 19 Mar 2019 10:23:04 +0000en-UShourly162226707TTC Special: Caribbean monitors tsunamishttps://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-monitors-tsunamis/
https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-monitors-tsunamis/#respondFri, 15 Mar 2019 03:55:46 +0000https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/?p=16185By Frank Martin TTC Service.- Tsunamis are not frequent in the Caribbean Sea, but the islands of the region prefer to maintain a rigorous surveillance on this threat considered extremely dangerous and destructive. Last 14 March region participated in the 2019 Caribbean Wave, an exercise to test the effectiveness of the system for early warning ...

Seventy-five tsunamis have occurred in the Caribbean over the past 500 years. Photo: Igor Zhuravlov/123rf

By Frank Martin

TTC Service.- Tsunamis are not frequent in the Caribbean Sea, but the islands of the region prefer to maintain a rigorous surveillance on this threat considered extremely dangerous and destructive.

Last 14 March region participated in the 2019 Caribbean Wave, an exercise to test the effectiveness of the system for early warning for tsunamis and other coastal threats.

The system established in 2005 under the auspices of UNESCO’s Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) creates the exercise that is very usefull to test the effectiveness of alert systems for emergency management actors in the region.

Experts explained that Caribe Wave 19 was developed in two double scenario.

First, the occurrence of a tsunami caused by an earthquake of magnitude 6.0 associated for the first time with a volcanic event, in this case the underwater eruption of Kick’em Jenny, followed by a landslide.

The second scenario forecasts an 8.5 magnitude earthquake on the Northern Panama Deformed Belt. Dummy messages were issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre (PTWC) and send it to the 46 participating countries and territories.

The IOC organization reported that the exercise engaged the cooperation of representatives of national warning organizations, emergency relief services, weather forecasting offices and coastguards. This year, it also involved the active participation of schools and hotels.

Although they are considered infrequent, tsunamis in the Caribbean have been destructive throughout history.

Seventy-five tsunamis have occurred in the Caribbean over the past 500 years.

Tsunamis, whether generated by earthquakes, landslides or volcanic eruptions, have killed more than 3,500 people in the region since the mid-19th century, according to the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The population explosion and the growth of tourism in coastal areas over recent decades have made the region more vulnerable.

Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves, with periods ranging from minutes to hours, arriving in a so-called “internal wave train”.

Their destructive power can be enormous, and they can affect entire ocean basins. The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history, with at least 230,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean.

]]>https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-monitors-tsunamis/feed/016185TTC Special: Tourism: Is artificial intelligence necessary?https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-tourism-is-artificial-intelligence-necessary/
https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-tourism-is-artificial-intelligence-necessary/#respondMon, 04 Mar 2019 20:34:31 +0000https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/?p=16155By Frank Martin TTC Service.- Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence. Among those tasks may be visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages. All those tasks are daily work in the world tourism industry from which the Caribbean also derives ...

In today’s world smart systems and chatbots are used in travel agencies and air transport companies. Photo: aimage/123rf

By Frank Martin

TTC Service.- Artificial intelligence is the theory and development of computer systems able to perform tasks that normally require human intelligence.

Among those tasks may be visual perception, speech recognition, decision-making, and translation between languages.

All those tasks are daily work in the world tourism industry from which the Caribbean also derives its higher income.

Of course, tourism industry is no exception. In today’s world smart systems and chatbots are used in travel agencies and air transport companies.

Especially crucial for the market are predictions about the near future foresee the development of personalized solutions, which will lead to further rearrangement in the technological revolution that has been going on for decades in the tourism industry.

The process of continuous progress seems to be unstoppable.

According to News Americas, from London, “the extraordinary technological advances that have taken place over the last decade mean that very soon it will become a pervasive commercial tool with benefits and dangers that tourism professionals will need to understand”.

The author David Jessop, a British expert that is a consultant to the Caribbean Council estimates in a recent article that the application of AI to Caribbean tourism is likely to be far-reaching and to present challenges to the often conservative, bottom-line-oriented industry in the Caribbean.

Jessop quoted Jamaica’s Minister of Tourism, Edmund Bartlett as saying that digital technology would change the way in which the region addresses tourism.

“It would enable the industry to better understand visitors’ needs and the industry’s requirements, while enhancing its competitiveness and providing a seamless visitor experience”, Bartlett added.

The minister wants that Jamaica should become a leading player in adapting to and creating digital solutions of the kind that have begun to transform the industry globally.

Many experts on the matter, including Jessop, believe that IA makes possible the accumulation of big data and the integration of databases and analytics with globally used platforms such as Google.

This allowing hotel, airlines and other providers to create a sales and booking experience that anticipates a client’s interests and offers bespoke travel solutions.

“AI will enable real time interventions, for example rebooking if a flight is delayed and could allow a hotel, restaurant or tourist board to advise in-market via a client’s cell phone options based on their location and preferences”, Jessop added.

One more advantage is that by harnessing data from valuable market segments such as millennials, AI can then, through social media, offer in a targeted and subtle way options for personalized travel and experiences that relate to an individual’s lifestyle.

The expert estimates that the industry in the region will likely benefit directly in the short-term though data accumulation and the purchase of related domestic and external AI services.

But warning that “this rapidly accelerating process suggests that in the longer term the ultimate commercial benefits will principally go the largest and wealthiest international players able to develop and own integrated AI platforms like tour operators, airlines, cruise lines, financial services companies, hotel chains, and internet platforms that “are all now racing to control and integrate”.

Jessop’s proposal is that it may be far more important for the Caribbean to develop a long-term focus on those aspects of AI that are inward facing: that is those that support in-destination efficiencies, inter-sectoral linkages, training, education, and a better understanding of the impact of taxation, so that the domestic industry, governments and deployed big data also requires answers as to how information can be controlled and directed nationally to deliver Caribbean development and the retention of revenue.

]]>https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-tourism-is-artificial-intelligence-necessary/feed/016155TTC Special. Danger: Avoid plastichttps://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-danger-avoid-plastic/
https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-danger-avoid-plastic/#respondFri, 01 Mar 2019 18:16:43 +0000https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/?p=16139By Frank Martin Climate change is a phenomenon that threatens the world tourism industry and the worst news is that it has allies, one of them the plastic. Scientists have come to the conclusion that an object that seems harmless and useful as a plastic bag is linked to the climate change in a variety ...

Climate change is a phenomenon that threatens the world tourism industry and the worst news is that it has allies, one of them the plastic.

Scientists have come to the conclusion that an object that seems harmless and useful as a plastic bag is linked to the climate change in a variety of ways.

From air quality to ocean toxicity, plastic bags contribute to eco-system disruption.

Studies that are advancing around the world indicate that habitat destruction, fossil fuel emissions, and plastic pollution are some of the ways that plastic bags and climate change cannot be separated.

An estimated 12 million barrels of oil are used to manufacture the 30 million plastic bags that, for example, Americans use each year.

That is equivalent to the amount of oil in our Strategic Oil Reserve. When used for bags, it is a wasteful and unnecessary way to deplete our oil supply and contribute to CO2 build-up in our atmosphere.

For the tourism industry that usually gets a lot of income from nature, especially from the sea, as is the case in the Caribbean, news about plastic can be frightening.

The buildup of plastic in the oceans is a greater cause of eco-system disruption.

About 100,000 marine animals die each year from suffocating on or ingesting bags. Plastic pollution and climate change are of breathtaking significance in terms of the billions/trillions of dollars people will increasingly be forced to pay toward their mitigation and repair.

Plastic pollution is the stepmother of all economic externalities.

Plastic manufacturing is estimated to use 8 percent of yearly global oil production. The EPA estimates as many as five ounces of carbon dioxide are emitted for each ounce of polyethylene (PET) produced—the type of plastic most commonly used for beverage bottles.

The bad news is that more disposable plastics are coming, in the parts of the world where they can do the most damage—newly industrialized countries with infrastructures that lag behind their population’s consumerism.

Scientists see evidence on the beaches of Manila Bay, the rivers of Bangladesh, the streets of Ghana and in the Caribbean.

]]>https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-danger-avoid-plastic/feed/016139TTC Special: Caribbean Cautiously optimistichttps://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-cautiously-optimistic/
https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-cautiously-optimistic/#respondFri, 22 Feb 2019 18:19:35 +0000https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/?p=16108By Frank Martin TTC Service.-Tourist arrivals to the Caribbean will increase by between 6 and 7 percent in 2019 a forecast of the CTO that will only be possible to reach if the region continues its restoration steps after the bitter 2017 with its destructive hurricanes. Experts add that the islands will have to overcome ...

TTC Service.-Tourist arrivals to the Caribbean will increase by between 6 and 7 percent in 2019 a forecast of the CTO that will only be possible to reach if the region continues its restoration steps after the bitter 2017 with its destructive hurricanes.

Experts add that the islands will have to overcome the downward trend of 2018 when

the Caribbean saw a 2.3 percent decline in arrivals

“We are projecting that tourist arrivals will increase by between 6 and 7 percent in 2019, as the damaged infrastructure in the hurricane-impacted destinations returns to capacity. Similarly, cruise arrivals should expand by a further 4 percent to 5 percent,” Ryan Skeete, CTO’s acting director of research, said at the Caribbean Tourism Performance Review news conference in early February.

Skeete added in an interview in Cayman Islands that With a strong performance during the last four months of 2018, including a robust showing by countries impacted by the 2017 hurricanes, “the evidence suggests that Caribbean tourism is on the upswing.”

According to CTO the Cayman Islands was one of the highest performing destinations in the region last year.

Guyana, Belize and St. Kitts and Nevis saw higher percentage increases in air arrivals than the Cayman Islands’ 10.7 percent.

But Puerto Rico, Saint Maarten and the U.S. Virgin Islands among the hurricane-impacted islands saw a significant decline in arrivals.

Because of those falls in tourist arrivals CTO was cautiously optimistic about its projections but warned of “significant headwinds,” including the outcome of the Brexit negotiations in the U.K.

Also the ongoing trade war between the United States and China and potential extreme weather events in the destinations and marketplaces.

Real statistics indicate that there were 29.9 million tourist visits to the Caribbean in 2018, a decline on 2017, but still the second best year on record for the region.

Cruise visits to Caribbean destinations at the end of 2018 increased by an estimated 6.7 percent over 2017. This meant that the region received an estimated 28.9 million cruise visitors, some 1.8 million more than the 27.1 million in 2017.

]]>https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-cautiously-optimistic/feed/016108TTC Special: Caribbean: Sustainable tourism success or economic failurehttps://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-sustainable-tourism-success-or-economic-failure/
https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-sustainable-tourism-success-or-economic-failure/#respondThu, 14 Feb 2019 20:38:12 +0000https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/?p=16084By Frank Martin TTC Service.- Sustainable tourism is the goal of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, including the Caribbean islands, committed to that goal. Last week Belize has unveiled a new tourism campaign aimed at targeting the Latin American market by promoting sustainable tourism by offering boutique experiences rather than mass tourism ...

TTC Service.- Sustainable tourism is the goal of the most visited tourist destinations in the world, including the Caribbean islands, committed to that goal.

Last week Belize has unveiled a new tourism campaign aimed at targeting the Latin American market by promoting sustainable tourism by offering boutique experiences rather than mass tourism packages.

According to Minister of Tourism, Manuel Heredia, the new campaign, “Belize: So Exotic. So Close” is crucial.

Heredia introduced the campaign in Mexico City over the weekend. The new campaign targets visitors from Latin America, including those from Mexico, which shares some cultural and historical features with Belize.

“Our goal is sustainable tourism. None of that all-inclusive stuff” Heredia said, referring to Belize’s 25-year strategic plan for the country’s tourism industry, which accounts for 38% of GDP.

Belize has displayed its commitment to sustainable safeguarding its environment, with some 70% of the country’s territory and waters enjoying protected status.

Investments by several top-line hotels and resorts as well as those by stars including Leonardo DiCaprio, have given Belize even more international prominence as a sustainable eco-tourism destination.

Belize Tourism Board (BTB) Director, Karen Bevans, said Belize is hoping to attract more Mexican tourists because even though the countries are geographically close and share a Mayan heritage.

Experts says when tourism is sustainable, it benefits locals and provides tourists with a high-quality experience whilst preserving the environment. As a result, sustainability has many dimensions — social, political and ecological, among others

Travel and tourism are viewed as drivers for economic growth and job creation, with employees and quality of work at the center of the sustainable tourism debate, yet compared to professions such as nursing, there is limited research on the experiences of the tourism workforce.

Tourism is an essential source of revenue and employment in the Caribbean region and sustainable tourism is more important now than ever before in the history of the industry.

The new and negative factor is climate change.

The impact of climate change on the Caribbean tourism sector is therefore of great importance to these island States, as the effects of climate change on the climate-sensitive ecosystems of the Caribbean will affect the islands socially and economically. Nevertheless, the tourism sector itself produces a considerable amount of CO2 emissions, which in turn have a deleterious effect on the climate.

Experts added that is crucial the further expands on the two-way relationship between tourism and climate change and the Caribbean’s path toward sustainable tourism.

In the Caribbean, Sustainable Tourism Development is understood as “the optimal use of natural, cultural, social and financial resources for national development on an equitable and self-sustaining basis to provide a unique visitor experience and an improved quality of life through partnerships among government, the private sector and communities according to CTO Caribbean Sustainable Tourism Policy Framework of 2008.

]]>https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-caribbean-sustainable-tourism-success-or-economic-failure/feed/016084TTC Special: Overtourism Vs Undertourism?https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-overtourism-vs-undertourism/
https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/ttc-special-overtourism-vs-undertourism/#respondThu, 07 Feb 2019 23:01:08 +0000https://www.traveltradecaribbean.com/?p=16064By Frank Martin TTC Service.- Overtourism has essentially gone mainstream around the world. Occurs when there are too many visitors to a particular destination. But now a parallel trend called undertourism is playing out in some emerging destinations that are framing themselves as peaceful yet exciting alternatives to the packed streets of other cities. According ...

TTC Service.- Overtourism has essentially gone mainstream around the world. Occurs when there are too many visitors to a particular destination.

But now a parallel trend called undertourism is playing out in some emerging destinations that are framing themselves as peaceful yet exciting alternatives to the packed streets of other cities.

According to Skift Megatrends 2019 “undertourism” enters the industry’s collective consciousness, offbeat destinations or those with new stories to tell are marketing immersive experiences that build relationships with people, places, culture, and community over Instagram-worthy photo ops and mass touring.

Of course undertourism is an inadequate level of tourism.

Some experts see both concepts as antagonistic to each other. They think that the real issue is how the tourism industry make sure that it harness the great positive impacts of tourism and manage the negative impacts successfully.

The British expert Dr James Kennell wrote in his web site that examples from UK seaside towns and around the world suggest that the real danger facing most destinations is actually undertourism.

In parks and protected areas inadequate funding and maintenance leads to low visitation which leads to declining social and financial investment which leads to abandonment.

Entire national destinations, like certain countries, may suffer the same problem in much greater terms.

Destinations used to be satisfied with meeting visitor arrivals and spending goals that they set for the year and left areas such as economic development and destination management to other organizations.

Skift, a media company founded in 2012 that provides news, research, and marketing services for the travel industry added in its web site that in recent years, overtourism has turned the destination marketing model on its head as many organizations realize their responsibility to either manage visitor growth before it’s out of control or make a plan to not become the next Barcelona or Venice.

“In the short term, this might mean forgoing some revenue. But more destinations are acknowledging that a handful of affluent travelers are better than many cash-strapped tourists, and having the right plan increases the high spenders’ likelihood to return.

Destinations increasingly say that they’re committed to spreading tourism beyond congested areas to neighborhoods in need of tourism spending, or grow tourism during less popular seasons.

“But the dispersal approach, if successful, only marginally shifts the problem elsewhere rather than solving it” the Skift analysis underlined.

Oslo, for example, launched a campaign in 2017 that focused on “rescuing” tourists from popular cities like Paris and bringing them to Norway’s capital where museums generally lack crowds, restaurant reservations are easy to get, and public parks have plenty of free space.

Global tourism arrivals hit 1.3 billion in 2017, according to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, and tourism arrivals have grown for seven straight years since the official end of the 2008 to 2009 global financial crisis.

Post-financial crisis, many governments turned to tourism to help reverse course on their flagging economies, and that strategy helped to make tourism the largest industry in a tiny place like Iceland, which Skift covered in-depth in 2016.

“The answer for these and other destinations is not to undersell because of overtourism but to adopt smart strategies for marketing the alternatives that tourists didn’t know they loved”, Skift added.